What is the best thickener for your lubricating greases?

What is the best thickener for your lubricating greases?

Monday, 18 July, 2022

Avoiding wear on components and thereby extending the operating life of machinery parts is essential in the lubricant sector.

In order to reduce this wear as much as possible we can use both lubricating oils and greases.

Grease or oil? Which one is best to use?

In order to get the best result it is important to select the most suitable lubricant for each use.

For applications on hard-to-reach spots or closed circuits and where the rotation speed is very high, it is better to make use of lubricating oils as they provide greater fluidity due to being in liquid state.

On the other hand, by using semi-solid lubricants – lubricating greases with a more viscous appearance – we form a film around the parts or surfaces that allows us to achieve low friction between them. Due to their temperature resistance, greases are perfect for lubricating components that are under high stress (such as ball bearings, etc.) and at a low speed due to their high viscosity.

In this news item we are going to tell you how to formulate the latter: lubricating greases.

Composition and classification of greases

To provide a simple definition for lubricating greases we would say they are solid or semi fluid due to the dispersion of a thickening agent in a lubricating liquid.

Our thickening agents are based on organoclays.

Their approximate composition is as follows:

65-95% – Oil lubricant
5-35% – Thickener
0-10% – Additives

The incorporation of the thickener is what determines the necessary viscosity of the lubricant for the required application.

We can class lubricating greases according to the categories established by the National Lubricating Grease Institute (NLGI), allowing us to gain an idea of the firmness of the grease:

Table 1: Classification of lubricating greases based on the NLGI

The best thickener for your formulations

To find the best thickener for your formulations, Comindex can offer you the solution

Our represented company BYK manufactures a broad range of organoclays that serve as thickeners in grease formulations.

Their incorporation provides the following properties:

Excellent temperature resistance up to 180ºC
Remarkable lubricating properties even at low temperatures
High water resistance
Improved metal adhesion
Excellent “bleeding/migration” resistance

Also, it has one additional benefit: its most widespread product, CLAYTONE-40, is recommended as a thickener for a huge variety of oils.

In addition, we can measure the NLGI grades depending on the dose and the oil used, by using a single additive.

Graph 1: Influence of base oil on NLGI grade

Applications of CLAYTONE organoclays

Below are just some of our recommendations for more specific applications with this range of BYK thickeners:

CLAYTONE-40: Universal grease thickener, suitable for food contact (NSF HX-1)
CLAYTONE-VP V: Same chemical structure as CLAYTONE-40, but with a surface treatment based on plant resources. Suitable for greases that need a Kosher and Halal certificate.
CLAYTONE-HY: Self-activated organoclay
CLAYTONE-APA: Self-activated organoclay, recommended for high polarity oils

How to apply CLAYTONE in your formulations

With the exception of CLAYTONE-HY and CLAYTONE-APA, in order to use all these products correctly you need to add an activator, such as propylene carbonate: water (95:5), at approximately 20% for the amount of thickener.

It will also be necessary to apply the correct shearing force to allow the organoclays to disperse correctly and become effective.

In the case of fluorinated fluids, such as perfluoropolyether (PFPE), due to how difficult it is to provide the fluid with viscosity, other types of thickeners need to be used; accordingly, we will use PTFE micronised waxes, such as CERAFLOUR 981 R.

Now that you are familiar with the products, do not hesitate to contact us for further information or to request samples. Our technical advisory team will be only too happy to address any queries you may have.

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